mabelode,

Rather than characterize the situation as one favoring a theist or an atheist point of view, I think it may be more useful viewing intolerance as favoring or suppressing personal liberties.

To that end, I am minded of a poem attributed to Martin Niemöller about the quiescence of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power. There are various versions, this is the one I favor:


Original......................................Translation

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,.........When they came for the communists,
habe ich geschwiegen;.........................I remained silent;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.....................I was not a communist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,.....When they locked up the social democrats,
habe ich geschwiegen; ........................I remained silent;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat................I was not a social democrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,............When they came for the trade unionists,
habe ich nicht protestiert;...................I did not speak out;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter................I was not a trade unionist.

Als sie die Juden holten,.....................When they came for the Jews,
habe ich nicht protestiert;...................I did not speak out;
ich war ja kein Jude..........................I was not a Jew.

Als sie mich holten,..........................When they came for me,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte...there was no one left to speak out.



I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you to learn that I favor personal liberty, particularly as realized in a liberal democracy. It was not too long ago that Germany descended from a civilized nation to one which burnt and gassed its own citizens. How far into the common weal must the wedge be driven the next time before someone cries “Halt!”?

On a lighter note, wasn’t it President Chirac who said “Aprés moi, le Shari'a.”?

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Eudaimonia